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Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Well this is the week that some of us have been dreading, me included, had never made an ATC in my life and now we need to do a swop.......well, all I can say is that once I started, I could not stop making them!

The only things on my desk this week are a collection of ATC's that I had a lot of fun making. I tried out a few on fellow WOYWWer Ann B and she was very helpful and kind. Thank you Ann.

I am also showing a close up of the ATC's so that the person next to me, who wants to swop, can choose the one they like. I have included a couple suitable for males as we have a couple in the group. This is the first page:-

This is the second page:-

Hope you find one you like! Let me know and then we can arrange to swop addresses.

If you do visit this week please do leave me a comment, I love to read them all and really appreciate you taking the time to visit. I always try to return the compliment (but not on Facebook or Pinterest). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Monday, 28 May 2012

The theme this week over at Sunday Stampers (http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/) which is run by the lovely Hels Sheridan is Words. This is in memory of Robin Gibb, who sadly died much too young, last week. I love the song 'Words' but my favourite Bee Gees song is 'How Deep Is Your Love' and I believe that Robin, before he died, asked his family to play this song at his funeral. As the theme is also words, I took one word from the title of the song to make my piece for the challenge. Here it is:

I thought the occasion worthy of breaking out my Wendy Vecchi Art Parts and the base is from the Large Flourishes pack, which includes the smaller frame inside too.

I used a new technique that Hels taught on Saturday and used a paint dabber and piece of cut and dry to cover the frame in hazelnut paint. When dry I then sanded it lightly to expose parts and I distressed this with walnut stain DI. I covered the flourish edges with walnut stain and a little black DI to make it darker than the frame itself. I overstamped the whole frame, with my Hero Arts newsprint stamp, also in walnut stain. I used the same method for the smaller frame but used the new Peacock DI and overstamped with walnut stain.

The flower is from Wendy's Floral Art Part pack, the stem is coloured in peeled paint DI, the larger flower in aged mahogony and the smaller one is stained with wild honey. I added a button, from Tim Holtz button range, to the flower, the button has a blue top which matches the blue of the inner frame. The butterfly is stamped with a Hero Arts stamp and I have coloured it in wild honey to resemble an orange tip butterfly. The word Love is cut from grunge paper, topped with Tim Holtz's Vintage Shabby paper. The edges are distressed with Peacock DI.

Sunday, 27 May 2012

Firstly, I would like to again thank all my new followers and welcome you to my little blog, I do so appreciate your company.

Yesterday I had the most amazing day by attending a full day workshop with the uber talented Hels Sheridan of http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/ . For anyone who does not yet know Hels, she is the mistress of all things grunge, to me she is the female version of Tim Holtz and I love her work. Please have a look at her blog as her work is amazing. Hels loves using Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi products in her work, she is also a fully qualified Ranger Educator.

We made a mirror and here is the finished result:

The picture is not my best but it is difficult to photograph black. I covered the centre mirror to avoid getting my reflection in it.

We started with a plain base mirror in a cream colour, painted and distressed it. We painted and distressed all the other elements, overstamping the flowers, butterflies and leaves. The flowers are die cut tattered florals which we cut up and shaped into roses (one of Hel's favourite techniques and you will find instructions on Hel's blog). The word 'art' is cut from Tim Holtz metal and distressed with a black dabber. The little tag hanging down in the mirror part has the words 'embrace imperfection'. That was the most fiddly bit but worth the effort. The wings on the dress form are cut from grungeboard and distressed and hanging from the waist is a tiny pin, a pearl and a chain tassle. This is one of those items that you have to see in real life to absolutely appreciate it. I love it.

Aside from having an amazing time, a good laugh and lots of chocolates, I made a new friend, the lovely Rachel who you can find at http://fisherscardsandcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ who is a Mum of two little ones. You can check out Rachel's take on Hels mirror on her blog. I also sat next to Kathryn, another young Mum but alas, I did not take her details.

Thank you for looking and if you have read this far I hope you will leave me a comment and if possible I will return the compliment (not on Facebook or Pinterest though). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Firstly I want to say a really big thank you to my newest followers, I do so appreciate you wanting to follow me, it warms my heart - thank you!

This is the day of the week when we all share what's on our desk and if you want to join in then please pop over to see our illustrious hostess Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to find out more. It is great fun but be warned, it is very addictive.

I took these pictures in the dying sunlight of Tuesday evening - we have sun and it is warm here in the UK!! My first picture shows what I won in Tim's Tags, a gorgeous set of stamps - yipee, how lucky am I. I don't have very many TH stamps so I am a very happy crafter today! And I got another lovely e-mail from Mario too.

My desk is quite tidy at the moment, I have a few new goodies from Pink Paislee which also came today. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot my little wooden house filled to the brim (well nearly) with ATC's. I have gone, in 2 weeks, from never making one to now being unable to stop making them. I love these little things. Looking forward to next week.

Well that's it from me, trying to keep it short, as Julia likes. If you do have a look, please leave me a message and I will do my best to return the compliment (I am not on Facebook or Pinterest). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Monday, 21 May 2012

This week the Sunday Stampers Challenge over at the lovely (television star) Hels Sheridan's place http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/ is Circles. Unfortunately I spent a couple of hours this morning doing a round easel card and then I went a ruined it at the last hurdle - still, as they say, it is only a few pieces of card and some ink.......

However, I don't like to be defeated and I had the remains of some Wendy Vecchi Art Parts on my desk and they are both round so I made a vase. I cut out some flowers from TH's tattered florals die, stamped them with my Hero Arts newsprint stamp, inked the edges and put them together with some round pearl brads (more circles?) and mounted them onto kebab sticks which I stained with Distress stain. The flowers are kind of roundy shaped.........I then added a sun charm on a TH pin, added some leaves (Spellbinder die) and a little butterfly. I hope I have put enough circle shapes on to qualify!

If you visit please do leave me a comment, I love to read them and will always try to return the compliment, although I am not on Facebook or Pinterest. Thanks for looking. Crafty hugs, Anne x

Sunday, 20 May 2012

This challenge was too good to pass up. The challenge which you can see described in full over athttp://pennybfriendssaturdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ is all about Recycling. Now, I don't know about you but I can never throw anything remotely craftworthy away - in fact my 'odds and ends' box (boxes) threaten to take over my craft room completely! So doing this card was both a treat and a challenge.

I took a plain 6 inch square card and matted a piece of scrap Bo Bunny paper which I ripped around the edges and inked with Broken China DI. The stamped image (Penny Black fireworks) was one that I had done previously and was a second generation stamped image using the Tim Holtz distress markers. I did not believe Tim when he said that you could get a second and third image by 'huffing' on the stamp - he was right (oh ye of little faith) and this was the second stamping. I coloured part of the stems in with a water brush. The ribbon was some badly marked cream ribbon (from a gift box) and I used Broken China distress stain on it and then scrunched it up. The butterfly was cut from another Bo Bunny paper and had been languishing in my bits box and the pearls were just three lonely odd sized pearls that I had in my stash.

If you do visit, I hope you will leave me a comment as I love to read them and if possible I will return the compliment (I am not on Facebook or Pinterest). Thanks for looking. Crafty hugs, Anne x

Friday, 18 May 2012

A warm welcome to my new followers, I am so delighted that you have joined me, I just hope I can live up to expectations!

This is my entry for Tim's Tags for May. Again, I did not have most of the required products but I think I am getting quite good at 'winging' it. For me that is part of the challenge.

I covered the manilla tag with some vellum that I got ages ago from Kanban, inked the edges with Frayed Burlap DI, cut down a Tim Holtz birdcage die and a dress form die, added an empty cotton spool which I chopped in half (don't ask!) and covered in packaging twine. The red stamp at the top is from a railway set of stamps by Creative Expressions.

The flowers were a little more difficult, I got an empty mini pie dish (mince pie I think), put some clear embossing powder in, held on to the tin with tweezers and heated it. Once melted I dipped the flowers in (which I lightly inked with DI first) and voila - they don't look too bad. You do need to be very quick with this method or find a second pair of hands to help.

The embellies are Tims and I coloured some vintage ribbon with the new Squeezed Lemonade DI - gorgeous colour. The tag is quite large but my amazing photography technique has made it look dumpy - sorry. I do try!

If you do visit I hope you will leave me a comment, I love to read them and I always try to repay the compliment (I am not on Facebook or Pinterest though). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

It is Wednesday again! Where does time go. Well, I am one lucky person this week. I won £10 on the lottery, I won Tim's Tags for April, I went to Happy Stampers at Port Sunlight, bought loads of goodies and met Jo of Jozart and got a free gift for being a Woywwer! On top of all that, I was Lynn Holland's (http://www.oneimadeearliertoday.blogspot.com/) first online customer!!! I also got a lovely gift from Christine Emberson for taking part in her Spring gallery. Am I lucky or what?

Please check out Lynn's doodly birds range, it is amazing, as well as being fabulous quality. Also, Jozart stamps are amazing and definitely worth a look at http://www.stampattack.co.uk/.

My desk is still covered with my purchases and if you are wondering why I am showing my desk then please have a look at the fab Julia's blog over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see what it is all about.

Since Julia likes us to keep our posts short, I am not going to explain every item but you can, if you look closely, see some of the very first ATC's that I have ever done, lurking here and there. I love doing them now!

Have a Happy WOYWW and if you pass by please do leave me a comment and I will always try to return the compliment (I am not on Facebook or Pinterest though). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Monday, 14 May 2012

Firstly I want to say thank you to all my new and existing followers, it really humbles me to know that you might be remotely interested in what I do, thanks so much.

Well, a first for me! I am actually one of the lucky winners on Tim's Tags for April - really, it is true, I have to keep pinching myself. I have won some candy in the past but I have never won anything like this. And as Mario himself said in his e-mail, I will always remember that I won a Tim Holtz competition first. Woohoo!

Anyway back to the job in hand. The fabulous Hels Sheridan (http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/) over at Sunday Stampers has given a challenge to create something based on the epic Queen song - Killer Queen. Queen are one of my all time favourite groups and I think I know every song off by heart. I was not sure whether to go for Marie Antoinette or do something British so I opted to use the new Crafty Individuals stamps that I got on Saturday at Happy Stampers in Port Sunlight.

I have kept my tag fairly simple, distress inked the background, added the stamped images, a crown trinket and some lovely red,white a blue ribbon. One of my favourite lines from the song is " guaranteed to blow your mind" and I think that the Olympics and Queen's Jubilee will do that this year, so I added the words to my tag.

Thank you for looking and please do leave me a comment as I love to read them and I always try to return the favour (except I am not on Facebook or Pinterest). Crafty hugs, Anne x

Friday, 11 May 2012

I have had a stamp of a clematis from Oak House Studios for ages and before I started blogging, about 3 months ago, it was my most used stamp, it just seems to fit any occasion.

A couple of weeks ago, the talented Christine Emberson over at http://hope-chances.blogspot.com/ asked her followers to send her a card of something that reminded them of Spring - so this just had to be my first choice. I did not post it here because she posted it on her blog, on Wednesday, under Spring Inspirations Projects and I wanted that one to go up first. Also, I do WOYWW on a Wednesday so it clashed. Anyway here is my card using this gorgeous stamp. It is stamped and decoupaged to give it some dimension.

Apologies, I cropped it a little too much but it is only a tiny bit at the top of the card that is missing. Of course it had to have butterflies too as they are my most favourite things ever.
If you do have a look please leave me a message, I love to read them all and always try to return the compliment. Crafty hugs, Anne x

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

It's Wednesday again! That means one thing - Julia over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ is inviting us to share what is on our desks this week. If you have not joined in before, beware, it is very addictive!

As Julia requests, I am keeping mine brief this week and showing my desk covered with new goodies that arrived in the post today:

New stamps from Michael Powell, papers and embellishments (cameos and butterflies) from Websters Pages. The Keep Calm poster is something I am doing for a family member.

Last week I mentioned my desk extension, it is showing on the left of this photo and it is where I keep my Big Shot and my filing tray, it is so good having the extra room and there are lots of drawers (now full!) to keep my stash in.

Well that's it from me, looking forward to seeing what you have been up to. If you do visit, please do leave me a comment as I love reading them and I will try my best to do the same for you.

Sunday, 6 May 2012

It is Sunday so I am entering into the wonderful Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers, details of which can be found over at http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/ and the theme for this week was inspired by the song Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue.

I have had this 8 inch square canvas for ages and thought it was about time it had an airing. For my submission today, aside from Hel's amazing tag over at her blog, I took inspiration from the uber talented Kath Stewart at http://kath-allthatglitter.blogspot.co.uk/ . Kath has a wonderful style, which I love and she uses many Tim Holtz products, which I also love. I hope that you will take a moment to visit her blog.

I painted the canvas with gesso, then blue acrylic paint and a touch of green along the bottom. I stamped with picket fence distress stain through a small dots mask and then overstamped using bubble wrap and peacock feathers distress ink. I attached some of Tim's tissue paper (not the tape) randomly across the canvas. The flowers are cut using Papermania kraft card and the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die. I spritzed the die cut flowers with lots of water, scrunched them up and then put them together with a large blue pearl brad. The stems and leaves are cut from pearlescent card and the word is cut from Tim's wordplay die, using more of the tissue glued to some card and I mounted these onto some more kraft card.

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

It is Wednesday again (where does time go), so that means WOYWW which is run by Julia over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ so if you want to join in, hop over there where you will find all the details.

This week I have had a major tidy as I am getting a new extension to my desk (Yay) and - I have been working on several projects too. This is my desk today:

Sorry about the cup of tea in the foreground. This week I actually won some blog candy!! How lucky is that. I got a little Stampavie stamp of a bear and some gorgeous gold/brown roses. They came from Bev Rochester's amazing blog. She is a master with promarkers, copics and prismacolour pencils. This is what I won and the card I made today.

The next two things are works in progress, the canvas was inspired by Sam Poole and a piece she showed on television and the last two pieces are mirrors which I have covered in - wait for it- Vivienne Westwood wallpaper!! My Son has wallpapered his downstairs toilet with this paper and had some left so I have done him a mirror and the other is for a friend who loves all things Vivienne.

That's it for me, hope you will leave me a comment if you visit and I will try to do the same for you. I did NEARLY all the desks last week, but not all. See you all next week! Crafty hugs, Anne x